Description

MBTA Commuter Rail Tracker provides experienced Boston commuters with as much information as possible about the location and status of their trains. This app is designed for seasoned commuters who are already familiar with their line schedule.

• Near real-time location information (next stop, current stop, GPS location, predicted arrival time, and vehicle speed). Please see the note below regarding accuracy.• Boarding statuses with the track number displayed next to each trip, as well as a dedicated "Departures" view to see the entire departures board.• "Late" status when the MBTA predicts that a train will arrive later than the scheduled time - even before a delay announcement is made.• View historical coach numbers, boarding tracks, and lateness for you train. Are you one of those people who like to guess the track and board early? Do so with a little bit more confidence now• Crowd-sourced data through the "Passenger Reports" feature. Is a prediction wrong? Train delayed mid-trip? Wondering if your train is standing room only? Discuss through the "Reports" button next to each trip.• Full schedule view with predicted arrival times for each stop on your trip.• View your train on a map, complete with rail line overlays and stop markers.• Service alerts view.• Easy access to the @MBTA_CR Twitter account where status updates and additional info is usually posted in the event of a delay.• Clean, user-friendly, and ad-free interface.

--- How accurate is this app? ---

Data is sourced directly from the MBTA's real-time feeds which is collected using PTIS equipment installed on the trains. We don't make any predictions ourselves; this app is simply a UI sitting on top of the MBTA's data. That said, their data is accurate enough to give you a general idea of the status of your train but not accurate enough to set your watch by.

For example, trains generally report themselves as on time with a predicted arrival/departure time equal to the scheduled arrival/departure time so long as the train is less than 5 minutes late (the "5 minute rule"). Furthermore, if a train is delayed mid-trip it can take up to 15 minutes for the delay to propagate through the feeds. Lastly, the MBTA's data tends to operate on a 1-2 minute delay; in fact, updated GPS locations only come through in the feeds once every couple minutes.

This app is NOT affiliated with the MBTA or MassDOT. Follow us on Twitter at @MBTARailTracker for updates.

My review

Review from

Reviews

4.8

89 total

5 75

4 9

3 3

2 1

1 1

This is a great and surprisingly deep app that has all relevant info in one place. A must for commuters. However, as with any app providing a veneer of anonymity, watch for rude people in the comments.

Saad Farooq

This is the most accurate of all the MBTA tracker apps I tried and also has some predictive information that other apps don't. Only downside is there's no shortcut view the stops you frequently use quickly. Everything is at least two clicks away. But overall this is not my go to app for commuter rail travel.

Shray Madan

Best app for commuter rail I've found so far. Puts the official apps to shame. All the info you'll need at one place.

Deanna Giardullo

Love this app use it everyday

Jonathan Zivan

Very nice app. So much better than the mbta site! Thanks!

Matt Pietal

Well done

User reviews

August 2, 2017

This is a great and surprisingly deep app that has all relevant info in one place. A must for commuters. However, as with any app providing a veneer of anonymity, watch for rude people in the comments.

This is the most accurate of all the MBTA tracker apps I tried and also has some predictive information that other apps don't. Only downside is there's no shortcut view the stops you frequently use quickly. Everything is at least two clicks away. But overall this is not my go to app for commuter rail travel.

By far the best App for commuter rail. I was waiting for the rail app war to end so we can all move on to other things and this has now happened! (Near real time telemetry, maps, alerts, predictions... all of it. Well done!

Just about perfect for commuters You can fav your frequent trips. Gets key info with few clicks, but allows you to drill down for useful details like departure track history. Wish it had train vehicle history too.

Thoughtfully designed and executed Very good use of what data is available, however spotty the MBTA may be in providing it... The app would be even better if there was a way to favorite and jump to a single route, and browse all schedules to analyze tracks, not just upcoming trains.

Thanks for the review, and yes, the MBTA's data can be unreliable at times unfortunately. Apparently they're working on some "substantial back-end changes" to improve accuracy, so whenever that's available this app should be more accurate.

No stop information and too many steps There's no info about specific stops, so you you have to have arrival times memorized. Also, you have to pick the line you want every time you open the thing. T on Time was much easier to use and much more informative.

What's New

- The initial page of routes now includes a status indicator. When the indicator is green, every trip on the line is on time. When yellow, at least one trip on the line is late. When red, at least one trip on the line is either delayed or cancelled

- The departures view now includes coach numbers if available

- The app now tells you the exact time GPS coordinates were last received for a train